Hey All, I'm thinking of getting one of those Handi Rifles in 280 (26" barrel) to shoot deer on my acres here in upstate NY. I doubt if anything would be over 100 yards if that.

So I'm looking to shoot 160 gr. or even 175 gr. bullets on a low pressure load to help the gun (don't need any velocity to speak of for obvious reasons). I've looked at my old Speer reloading guide and the online reloading data for IMR,Hodgdon,etc. Not much there.

Anyone load for the 280 that could give me the powder and weight range for a low pressure load while still maintaining decent consistency?

Take a look at H1000 Hodgdon data, it provides good velocity with lower pressures and high load density, it's one of my Handi friendly powders, I shoot it in my 280 Improved Handi. I wouldn't be too concerned tho, the SAAMI pressure for the 280 Rem is considerably lower than the 270 Win due to the weaker pump actions it's chambered in, the Handi is also available in 270 Win with a SAAMI MAP of 52kcup/65kpsi, the 280 Rem pressure is held to 50kcup/60kpsi.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

http://www.lasc.us/SAAMIMaxPressure.htm

http://kwk.us/pressures.html

I almost forgot, I've not tried any of the Accurate powders, but the Lee 2nd has some good looking data for some of their powders, good velocity at lower pressures, they'd be worth a try.

http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Rif...0244%20and%20245.pdf